Media: Plato up for job of mayor

With Cape Town mayor Helen Zille relocating to the premier’s office, service delivery head Dan Plato is tipped to move into the mayor’s seat.

Plato, the former head of housing, is the frontrunner for the position, although formal elections will only be held on May 13 at a special council meeting.

All the political parties will put up mayoral candidates, but the DA’s candidate is likely to emerge the winner, as the party has the most councillors.

Cape Town councillor Anthea Serritslev declined to confirm that Plato was the DA’s candidate.

Serritslev said the DA caucus would only choose its candidate next Monday.

In control of a R24billion a year budget and with a backlog of more than 200000 houses to wipe out, Plato also faces the challenge of winning the confidence of the communities he will be expected to serve.

Some say he is as elitist as the ancient Greek leader, Plato, who believed the “philosopher king” to be the ultimate leader.

“Plato’s appointment would be a disaster. He doesn’t speak the language of the poor,” Shackdwellers’ leader Mzonke Poni of Khayelitsha told Sowetan.

Gympie Street residents association chairman Willy Heyn said if Plato became mayor, “then we are going back to the apartheid era”.